About Suffering

FOR A NEW APPROACH TO SUFFERING, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL, HUMAN AND ANIMAL.

Monday, November 20, 2006

The end of suffering is our mission in life, says Tim.

Tim Sanders, according to his bio, delivers high-energy speeches and compelling seminars to high-level executive conferences, professional associations, and graduate schools. Let me quote this blog by him :

"I believe that our mission in life is simple: Participate in the end of suffering. If we reduce suffering in the world, we enable the positive. We make a difference. You cannot make people happy and you cannot make them like you. You can, however, be a part of the solution instead of being part of the problem. Suffering is everywhere waiting to be addressed. It comes in physical and mental forms from hunger to uncertainty.(...)Think about it, your greatest energy comes from your innate desire to end suffering. If you are bored, you find great energy to deal with that. If someone you care about needs something, you find it in yourself to give her your very best. This mission I suggest, the end of suffering, comes from your true nature as a compassionate being.(...)It is my informed opinion that the most effective leaders in the world focus efforts towards the end of suffering."

What Tim says is ‘motivational’, of course, and it is so because of the high-energy and compelling meaning that is involved in dealing with suffering. Therefore, in every realm of life, religion, politics, sports, or here business, people find it wise to appeal to suffering, sometimes for its ‘ending’, sometimes for its use as a means to a gain.

Despite the best intentions, it seems that suffering continues unabatedly and that an approach more to the point is required. I agree with Tim : at this time in history, our mission is to “participate in the end of suffering”. More precisely, I propose that we should all take part in the knowledge and management of suffering, that we should literally spend at least a few hours each month in some relevant and collectively acknowledged setting (edited on November 22 : I mean a setting expressly accepted as a part of a common plan by those who agree to a common mission) for learning about suffering and contributing to its wise use or relief.

Introduction

It is proposed to develop a new domain of work concerned with the whole set of things that relate to suffering.
It is suggested to name algonomy this new domain of work.
Posts here focus on various documents and events where people speak of suffering as a primary concern. The intended goal is to develop algonomy by linking up with people who are the most likely to benefit from or to contribute to the new domain.